PATNA: With reports of racial violence pouring in, Australia is the dream destination of few, if any, Indians aspiring to pursue higher studies on foreign shores. But Patna’s Kanishk Kumar, a postgraduate student in Sydney, says there’s no need to worry. “Main hoon na!” he told  in an emailed interview on Saturday.
Kanishk’s is not a hollow boast. This Bihari is the duly-elected president of Newcastle UniversityPostgraduate Students’ Association (NUPSA), which represents 9,500 students spread over the university’s four campuses in Australia and one in Singapore. “I was the association’s vice-president last year and unanimously elected president next year,” he said.
An alumnus of DAV-Patliputra and DAV-Khagaul, Kanishk graduated in Business Administration from Pune’s Symbiosis and worked for an insurance major till recession hit the economy in 2009. “That was not the time for career growth and I decided to utilize the recession period for pursuing higher studies,” said the Punpun boy who will be getting a combined degree of MBA and Master of Marketing from the Newcastle next month.
NUPSA liaise with the university authorities for the students. “And we gap the bridge between newcomers and the huge university,” Kanishk said and added the association functionaries are also on the university’s various boards that formulate policies for the students. “We bring out a newsletter and organize events such as barbecues to help international students feel at home even while living with the Aussies,” he said.
Indians today number not more than 50 in the university which has on its rolls 30,000-odd students, including undergraduates. “The number of Indians has been on the wane because of racial violence,” he agreed and added he wanted to help all Asians overcome this fear and that’s why joined the fray for the NUPSA leadership.
The Newcastle campuses have not witnessed any ugly incident. But its international students are frightened when such incidents happen in other cities. “During those days, we counsel them on safety measures, including how to travel safe at night,” Kanishk said.
NUPSA also coordinates with the city administration for bettering amenities for the students. It recently assisted the local city council in mapping the shortest and safest cycle route from the city to the university.
Kanishk visits Patna once every year and, like every Bihari, is proud of the changes taking place in his home state though he was not ashamed of his ‘Bihari’ tag even earlier. “We talk of racism in foreign countries. But I have lived in Maharashtra and Delhi where Biharis are looked down upon as untouchables,” he said and “feel hugely relieved” that things are now changing for the better for the Biharis outside Bihar.